Post Game Thread: Drake, Koi Lead Gophers to Crazy Comeback Homecoming Win!!





Not gonna lie I didn’t catch much of this game as I had the brewers on TV1. But I looked over on TV2 as Koi had the pick 6 and then the brewers closed it out minutes later. Great Saturday can’t lie!
 


Mrs. Billd is pretty upset on Taylor's lack of production except for that spurt of short downfield passes when he came out of the backfield.

I explained he is not getting any help. There is no push or holes from the O-Line plus the "blocking" from the receivers is of no help when trying to go outside. Actually was surprised at how many reps he got. Wondered if No. 7 is in the doghouse for something?

As was mentioned previously, both lines are sub-par for certainly the Fleck Era but also into Kill's tenure.
 


Ugly win but a win.

Drake had a rough game (O-Line didn't do him a lot of favors) but he hung in there and when he needed to make the big throw to Geers he did.

Frustrating how the refs were letting DBs be overly physical but thank god they were because it was huge for us on that 4th down throw to the EZ.

Lot to work on, run game was a complete mess and has to get better. D struggled most of the game but came up huge in the 4th quarter and made the plays they had to.

Whew.....Going to have to play much better next week against Nebraska....but in the end the team did just enough to get the W.....and on top of that.....we are not Wisconsin.... :)
They were consistent that’s for sure.
 

How badly has our running game regressed? Tonight, Purdue ran for 253 yards against the Gophers. The Gophers, in their four P4 games combined so far this year have amassed a total of 194 yards rushing: against Cal, 61 yards; against Rutgers 38 yards; against Ohio State 68 yards; and against Purdue 30 yards. (Fame got to run the ball against Ohio State; he had no runs against Purdue. WTF?) Frankly, it is amazing that the Gophs have a 4-2 record and are 2-1 in the B1G. This has to get fixed—or the defense is going to have to force 3 or 4 turnovers in every game going forward.
 



Mrs. Billd is pretty upset on Taylor's lack of production except for that spurt of short downfield passes when he came out of the backfield.

I explained he is not getting any help. There is no push or holes from the O-Line plus the "blocking" from the receivers is of no help when trying to go outside. Actually was surprised at how many reps he got. Wondered if No. 7 is in the doghouse for something?

As was mentioned previously, both lines are sub-par for certainly the Fleck Era but also into Kill's tenure.
I also feel our backs are starting to bail to soon on the middle of the field. At some point you have to get up in the OL and create your own hole.
 

Losing our tackle before the season started due to a transfer really hurt us. I'll take the win but clearly wasn't pretty to watch.
 

Sigh. We're really 4-2, right? Just feels like we're 2-4. I suppose that's a good thing.
 

Fun to see Fleck’s culture and good QB play steal a couple of games this year. Two double-digit comebacks in Big Ten play is almost unfathomable.

Hard not to think about the future. We are clearly nothing special this year, but we can build around Lindsey. It feels like something needs to change this offseason, though. The fact that our run game can be this bad is astonishing. There has to be a scheme problem. Or a massive recruiting/development problem. Either way, Fleck is going to have to think hard about making changes. Good QBs don’t come to MN often, can’t waste this window.

Same can be said for the defense. So far Danny Collins feels more Robb Smith than Heatherman. We’ve been spoiled by really good Gopher defenses lately and it’s so hard to watch us skip back into bad tackling and getting gashed.
 



My old DL coach would be apoplectic if we lost contain on the quarterback and tackled as poorly as this crew has it’s really unbelievable. 15 ran around and mocked and ridiculed us for much of the game and for good reason.
 


Game Thoughts:
  • The highlight through the 3rd quarter was Chad Smith (drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers) taking center field for the marching band. A drum kit being part of a marching band is pretty wild, and having Chad Smith driving it was great. The performance of the team through three quarters wasn't. They didn't even score in the 3 quarter, so no Culver's cheese curds...
  • Per the Bank's scoreboard, we had negative yards rushing for a good part of the first half. Purdue ran a play (I think it was in the third quarter) where they gained 18 yards on a run and my wife made the comment that they just gained more rushing yards on that one play than we had at that point for the entire game.
  • Key in my gripes is that through the three quarters, it seemed every time Purdue was third and long, we'd lose QB contain on the rush. He'd roll out to the right, and connect a pass to someone running a cross route. That happened over and over. Keeping the QB from rolling to the right (for right-handed passers) is pretty simple - but instead we'd do things like blitz Koi from the left. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that we finally started making some adjustments to stop that from happening.
  • I haven't watched the TV coverage, but from my seat in the first half there were some really obvious pass interference calls on Purdue that were missed, some key ones that would have certainly changed the momentum of the game.
  • I'm not as high on Drake as other are - he's good but I'm not convinced he's great. In particular, he doesn't have the quick release that Max has - more of a windup. That gives DBs more time to react. On the huge upside he does seem to make the right decisions - his passes almost always go to the open guy (versus AK where he'd throw to the first guy in the progression even if they were in double coverage).
  • As PJ says, change your best. We've changed from a run game to a passing team.
  • We won - good teams find a way to win ugly games - we're a good team.
 




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